Bas-relief, Gilded Wood, China, Qing Dynasty, 19th Century

A bas-relief carved from wood covered with lacquer and gilding. It depicts a vase decorated with fish and plants. At the top, beautiful lingzhi mushrooms are visible, while on the sides are pomegranates of varying sizes. The base is carved in the form of an openwork grid. In ancient China, the pomegranate symbolized health, love, and fertility, and its many seeds foretold numerous offspring. In traditional Chinese medicine, lingzhi mushrooms were considered the mushroom of immortality and the elixir of life, as well as a symbol of happiness. They were used to strengthen vital energy (Qi) and as talismans to protect against illness. Since ancient times, Taoist temples have been called "seats of the mushrooms," and according to their mystical teachings, the use of zhi (Ganoderma) or lingzhi mushrooms, "spirit mushrooms," and in particular the preparation of a concentrated decoction with hallucinogenic effects, gave adepts the ability to see spirits or to become spirits themselves by receiving the magical energy of the immortal xian, located in the "fields of grace" of the celestial "mushroom fields" (zhi tian).

China, Qing Dynasty, 19th century.

Dimensions: approximately 90 x 30 cm.

Good condition, minor scratches and visible repairs. Wood warping.

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